My Narrative-Free Week

For the first time on this adventure, what happened next did so without any tangible narrative and so consequently this journal entry takes a slightly different form to that which we are used to. Instead, I present what happened next simply as a series of caption-laden photos.  

And it starts with the Sumpango Giant Kite festival.

Road to Rio

This trip began with a plan to travel right the way around the World over a couple or three years with the whole thing funded by keeping to a neat little budget and finding work along the way. 

But having now been away a few months my plans have changed quite considerably. Here’s how...

Antigua

Este blog es en español & ingles. Yo primer escribí este blog en español entonces lo tranduje a ingles. Yo lo escribí en solo y solo usado el traductor pocas veces. Yo quería escribir este blog en español para demonstrar mi español y como ha mejorado.

This blog is in Spanish & English. I first wrote this blog in Spanish and then translated it to English. I wrote it alone and only used a translator a few times. I wanted to write this blog in Spanish to demonstrate mi Spanish and how it has improved. The English translation is written below the Spanish.

Wahaka

My final stop in Mexico was the city of Oaxaca (pronounced WA-HA-KA).

I was only there a few days and spent the majority of my time in the company of a couple of different guys - Luis and Andre - both of whom I met online and who between them kindly showed me around the city. Both tried to get me to eat the local delicacy - Chapulines (fried grasshoppers) - but in no way was that ever going to happen. That said, whilst grasshoppers weren't to my taste, the local tomales (tamales oaxaqueños) certainly were and unbelievably delicious... definitely something I am going to want to try to recreate when I return back home in the future.

To break up my 5 night stay I on the 3rd day took a day long tour, the highlight of which was a trip to Hierve el Agua where breathtaking vistas are overlooked by calcified waterfalls and stunning clifftop pools. 

My First Poop (on a Volcano)

On my way back towards Mexico City I stopped off in the city of Morelia so that I could take a day trip to one of the World's youngest volcanoes - Paracutín - and for the first time whilst travelling I decided to keep a bit of a video diary of what happened.

Contains some strong language #SorryNanny

Ignorance is Bliss

Let's say you're thinking about heading to a city you've not been before... How much should you try to find out about said city before arriving? 

Should you maybe buy a guide book? Read up on the city's history and culture? Check out TripAdvisor? Read reviews on restaurants to eat at, places to go and things to do? Or... should you just turn up not knowing a thing and try to find out for yourself?

The Three Musketeers

Inside the passenger lounge of a bus terminal on the North of Mexico City, something felt not quite right and in between trying to decipher the inaudible announcements blaring out over the loudspeaker, I tried to figure out what that something was. I wasn't hungry or thirsty, I certainly wasn't tired and I didn't need the toilet. So what was it? As I gazed around the room trying to identify whether or not anybody looked suspicious, it hit me. Everybody was with somebody. And I... I was on my own.

For the first time in 5 weeks I was alone. Like totally on my own. I had nobody beside me, nobody to talk to, nobody to annoy, nobody with whom to enjoy the experience or to share the burden. 

Nope. It was just me, myself and I... The three musketeers. 

Butterfly Effect

On leaving Nick at the airport I headed out to a small town on the fringes of Mexico City so that I could reunite with some old friends. In this entry to my journal I want to explain a little bit about the circumstances of how I first came to meet these people and what it was like coming back 5 years on.

The Pickpocket

Three times now I've been to Mexico and three times I've been robbed with stuff being lifted right from my pockets without me knowing.

In this entry I reveal what happened each time and why I won't let it change my perspective of this country or its people.

EL Cañon del Sumidero

Despite the direct route being only 140 miles, the bus we took from Palenque to San Cristobal took us on an impressive route 300 miles and 9 hours long.

Arriving late in the afternoon, the first thing we noticed was the temperature. A far cry from the heat and the humidity of the Yucatan, the air here was cool, dry and refreshing and for the first time since arriving in Mexico we were able to check-in at a hostel not soaked in sweat, but dare I say, looking almost presentable.

If Your Life Were A Book

"If your life were a book and you were its author, how would your story go?"

This was the opening line of Amy Purdy's TED Talk - Living Beyond Limits - and when I first heard it back at the start of last year I found myself having another of those lightbulb moments.